And So It Begins
by Maetro
Summary: This story is my take on how Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles might have become friends.  Eventual femslash Chapter 10 27/11/10  Writer's block is kicking my a## right now. I'm trying to get a new chapter up but it's not working very well. I'll keep at it.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**I don't own 'em. I just want to play with them a little.

**Pairing:** Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles

**Timeline:** pre-all the episodes of the show.

**Summary: **This is my spin on how Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles might have become friends. Eventual femslash

**Rating: **G for now. But the rating will likely go up with later chapters.

**Author's Note:**I found this show online and thought, 'hey, it's got that chick from NCIS in it, maybe I should give it a shot' and so I watched an epsisode. Then another, and another. And now I am hooked. This plot bunny has been hopping around in my head for a few days now, so I thought I'd give it a try.

**Chapter 1**

"Rizzoli, let's go, we caught a case."

Jane jumped at Korsak's bellow across the squad room. The movemnt jostled the cup of coffee sitting on the corner of her desk. Hot liquid sloshed over the side and she pulled her hand back but not fast enough to prevent from getting burned. She hissed out a curse and rubbed at the web of skin between her thumb and forefinger.

"Rizzoli."

She glanced over at Korsak then down at the mess spreading across her desk. The coffee was already staining the grooved of the scarred surface and inching across the papers resting beside her computer. It would just have to wait. She shook her hand out, grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair and strode across the room towards Korsak. The older man was shifting impatiently by the door and she hurried her steps, half afraid he would leave without her.

His words and their meaning hit her as the took the stairs down to the motor pool to pick up a car. A case. They'd caught a case. Her first case as a homicide detective. She'd gotten her shield less than 12 hour ago and already she was heading out. Adreneline surged through her and she fought the urge to fidget in her seat. Then she shot a glance over at her new partner, feeling a little guilty as she considered that for them to have a case meant that somebody had died and that wasn't anything to be excited about.

"It's all right, kid," Korsak said, glancing over and meeting her eye briefly. "Whatever happened to our vic, it's already happened. That part has nothing to do with us. Our part, bringing whoever did this to justice, that's a good thing. You're allowed to be exited about that."

Jane nodded and murmured a quiet thanks.

He didn't reply as he pulled the car up along side an abandoned building and nodded towards the squad cars parked half up onto the curb in front of them. "Here's our crime scene."

Her heart hammered painfully in her chest. Suddenly she was nervous. The car shifted and let out faint groan as Korsak slid from his seat, leaving her alone to take a deep, steadying breath before sliding out of the car herself.

She trailed behind her new partner towards the entrance of the building, a large gaping hole where the door should have been. A patrol officer stood to the side with a clipboard hanging loosely in his hand, his eyes gazing off into the far distance. That had been her just days ago, a beat cop standing guard at the crime scene while the detectives and the seargents and the lieutenants strode in and out, barely giving her half a glance as they signed in.

As she paused in front of him to give her name and badge number, she realized that she knew him. It was Tommy O'Leary. They'd gone to high school together. He'd been a grade or two ahead of her but they'd known a lot of the same people. Not friends but not not friends either. She'd heard he'd become a cop but they hadn't run into each other, until today at least.

"Rizzoli?" He gave her a once over, his eyes widening when he spotted the gold shield clipped to her belt.

"Tommy. Hey."

"I'd heard you joined the force. When did you make detective?" There was a hard edge to his voice that made her wonder if he'd taken the test and done poorly, or gotten passed over.

"Not to long ago," she said with a shrug, trying to sound nonchalant and not at all like it was the most amazing thing that had happened to her. Ever.

He made a noise in the back of his throat and made a show of writing her name down on his clip board.

"Thanks, Tommy." She slipped past him into the derelict building and followed the sound of voices towards the back of the building. The rooms she passed were empty of furntiture but full of paper and garbage. The walls were covered in grime and mold and graffitti and crumbling down in many places. She tried not to touch or let anything touch her as she made her way down the narrow hallway.

She found Korsak and the rest of the crime scene in what was once the kitchen, back when the house had actually been a home. Crime scene techs combed over every inch of the room, taking photos, dusting for prints and bagging anything that looked remotely like evidence.

The body lay in the center of the room in a pool of blood. As she approached, features began to take shape. Their dead body was a young man, barely out of his teens she'd guess.

"Blunt force trauma to the head," she commented softly to Korsak when she reached his side.

"Likely."

"Any idea what kind of weapon was used?"

"Doc, got a murder weapon for us?" Korsak in turn asked the medical examiner who was crouched next to the body.

"Not until I get him back to the morgue and complete the autopsy."

"What about time of death?"

"I'll know more when I get him onto my table."

Korsak let out a frustrated huff and Jane had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. Dr. Isles was something of a legend around the precinct. She was the youngest medical examiner the city had ever had. She'd been working as an assistant M.E. to Dr. Hornell until last year, when he retired and she'd been promoted up. Rumour had it she was the best there was. Apparently she was some kind of genius and her work was impeccible, her findings always concise and thorough. She was also one of the slowest M.E's the city cops ever had to deal with. She refused to commit to anything until she'd done the autopsy.

Jane had met her a couple of times, when she'd been assigned to a crime scene, just like Tommy O'Leary, out there. But she'd never really spoken with her.

"We got an ID?" she asked Korsak as she crouched down to get a better look at the wound on the kid's temple.

"Not yet. We'll take his prints, run him through the system when we get him back to the morgue."

She nodded and leaned in a little closer.

"Careful, don't touch anything."

She pulled back on instinct, even though her hands were firmly at her sides and she wasn't about to touch anything. She glanced up and met the M.E.'s eyes across the body.

"You really should pull your hair back at a crime scene," Dr. Isles said softly as she pulled a ruber band off her wrist and handed it over to Jane. "Leaning over a body like that, you could contaminate the scene. A stray piece could set the investigation back days before-"

"I get it," Jane interrupted the doctor as she pulled her hair back into a messyponytail.

"Dr. Isles, this is Jane Rizzoli, my new partner," Korsak broke in with the introductions. "Rizzoli, this is Dr. Maura Isles."

"You just made detective? Congradulations," Dr. Isles murmured, barely looking up from the body.

Jane and Korsak exchanged a glance and rose to their feet. "Rizzoli, why don't you go out and get the uniforms started on their canvas?"

Jane nodded, knowing the suggestion was really more of an order and headed back towards the front door.

Any and all comments are welcomed. And appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. These characters belong to Tess Gerristen and TNT and whoever else holds rights to them.

**Pairing:**Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles

**Summary:**This is my take on how Jane and Maura might have become friends.

Jane is a rookie detective, Maura is the medical examiner. Their paths cross through the course of their work.

**Timeline:** This story takes place before the events of the first episode.

**Rating:** Pretty much G rated for now, but that will change with later chapters.

**Author's Note:**Wow, thanks everyone for the overwhelming response to the first chapter. I've never gotten this many reviews for just one chapter before. I thank you for reading and I will try not to dissapoint.

**Chapter Two**

The neighbourood canvas yielded nothing. Nobody saw anything. Or if they did, they weren't admitting to it. Jane had a list of names and numbers of people that various officers thought might need following up on and a couple of addresses where nobody had answered their door but she wasn't holding out much hope that anything would come of it.

So unless one of these people really had saw something and suddenly developed a social conscious, their case wasn't going to be broken through eyewitness acounts. Korsak was running prints through the databases, hoping that once they got an ID they could start digging into this kid's background. In the meantime, he sent Jane down to the morgue to witness the autopsy.

From the barely hidden gleam in his eye as he'd given her this instruction, Jane couldn't help but conclude that he was hoping she'd faint or blow chunks or something. She was certain that if that's what he was hoping for, he was going to be sadly dissapointed. Because Jane was not in the least bit squeamish.

Growing up with two brothers and playing a lot of sports meant she'd seen her share of blood and guts. When she was seven, she'd fallen out of a friends' tree house and broken her arm in two places and the bone had tore a large gash in her forearm. When she was ten she'd fallen off a skateboard and ripped the skin off her leg from knee to ankle. When she was fourteen she got stepped on sliding into second base during a softball game, the other girls cleats making an almost perfect imprint on her calf. And these were only the injuries she herself had sustained. She'd seen Tommy wipe out on his bike and tear up his shoulder and arm and witnessed Frankie almost crack his skull open during a basketball game as well as an assortment of other bumps and scrapes over the years both on and off the field.

Because of this, she was feeling pretty confident as she strode through the doors of the morgue. But she certainly wasn't expecting the smell. It caught her up short as soon as she crossed the threshold.

"Oh, dear God." She gagged and held a hand up under her nose, trying to block the scent invading her nostrils.

"The sense of smell is the weakest of all the senses," Dr Isles informed her, barely glancing up from whatever it was she was doing, elbow deep in the young man's torso. "Give it a moment and you won't even notice the smell"

"I seriously doubt that," Jane managed.

At this, Dr Isles did look up. "Breath through your mouth," she instructed.

Jane tried this and felt her stomach roil as the scent in the morgue coated her tongue. "Oh, because tasting it is so much better," she muttered.

"Are you all right, Detective?"

"Do I look all right?" Jane snapped, feeling sweat pop up across her forehead in an effort not to throw up all over the good doctor's expensive looking shoes.

Dr Isles brow furrowed and a frown pulled at the corner of her lips and Jane felt guilty for being an ass.

She was about to apologize when Isles nodded towards her office. "There's a pack of gum in the first drawer. Mint helps mask the taste and the scent," she added when Jane just stared at her, confused by the seemingly unrelated segueway.

"Oh. Right. Thanks, Doc."

Jane held her breath as she edged around the autopsy table and didn't release it until she stopped in front of Dr. Isles desk. She cast a glance over her shoulder and watched for a moment as the other woman moved around the body with confident, efficient motions then turned her attention back to the desk. Even though she'd been invited, instructed even to open the drawer she still felt a little weird about going into the other woman's personal space. Even if it was just a drawer of her desk at work.

It took only a second to find the pack of gum, it was sitting right there on top of a pile of papers and a selection of random office supplies, spare pens, a box of staples, a couple of paper clips. She picked up the pack and popped out two of the small white chicklets and placed them on her tongue. As soon as she bit down on them the thick, fuzzy feeling from inside the morgue that had coated the inside of her mouth dissapeared, replaced by a strong wave of mint that trickled down her throat and made her cough.

When she stepped back into the morgue the smell was a mere tingling inside her nose. She took a deep sniff, suprised to find that she smelled nothing more than a faint odour.

"Hey, it really works. Thanks Doc."

"No problem, detective. See, the mint from the gum..."

Jane tuned out the explaination and stepped closer to the body, peering into the chest cavity with a mixture of disgust and fascination. "You can really tell what happened to this guy by looking at his insides?"

"Maybe. Hopefully. See the body is like a map of the world around us. Everywhere we go, everything we do..."

Once again, Jane tuned out what Dr. Isles was saying as she leaned in.

"Detective."

She glanced up at the sharp tone.

"You're hair is going to contaminate my body. Again."

Jane realized sheepishly that the rubber band Dr. Isles had given her earlier had worked it's way loose and her thick, unruly curls had slipped from it's grasp. "Sorry," she mumbled, stepping back. She quickly pulled the elastic from her hair and fixed her ponytail.

"So, do we know anything about our victim yet?" she asked.

"He was in his late teens, early twenties," Dr. Isles began. "Marks on his arms and between his toes indicate frequent drug use, though from the degree of healing it would appear they are old wounds. He is thin, almost to the point of malnourishment-"

"I meant about what killed him, Doctor."

"Nothing conclusive. But, I am not yet done my autopsy."

"You can't even hazard a guess on the type of murder weapon?"

"I don't like to guess, Detective."

"Oh, come on, it doesn't take a medical degree to know this guy was bashed on the head. Can't you at least give us an idea of where to start looking, baseball bat, two by four, the but of a gun?"

"And if I am wrong? What if I tell you, this man was hit on the head by a piece of board and you start looking at construction companies in the area or the contractor working on the house down the street and I that in fact, he was merely stunned by the blow to the head and the real cause of death was asphixiation or poisioning or some other cause. You will have wasted time and resources and will have to re-think the entire course of your invesitgation. I would rather wait and give you the correct cause of death when I determine it."

Jane stared at Dr. Isles in stunned silence then felt her cheeks heat up in an embarrased blush. Well, that did make sense. "All right, Doctor," she murrmured. "Just let me know what you find." She gestured towards the sinks lining the wall. "I'll just wait over here."

"Thank you, Detecive Rizzoli."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**I own nothing. These characters belong to Tess Gerritsen and whoever else owns rights to them.

**Pairing: **Jane/Maura

**Summary:** My take on how Jane and Maura might have become friends. Eventual femslash

**Timeline:**Takes place before the first episode of the show.

**Rating:** Pretty much G for now, but it will go up with later chapters.

**Author's Note:** The extent of my knowlege in police procedure and forensics of any kind comes from years of watching tv and reading crime books. So for those of you more knowledgable than me, please, disregard any glaringly obvious mistakes. (If you want to point them out to me so I can do better next time, that's fine but please be nice)

Not a whole lot of Jane/Maura in this one, but I felt is was a pretty important establishing chapter for Jane.

Gentry ,Transylvanian ,wcduran ,vmikki67 , thanks for your comments. They made my day.

**Chapter 3**

In the time it took Dr. Isles to complete the autopsy and report her findings to Jane, Korsak had gotten a hit on the fingerprints. He was at her side the moment she stepped into the squad room, a manilla file folder in his outstretched hand.

"We got an ID."

"Yeah?"

"James Behr. 23. He's got a record."

Jane took the file from her new partner and flipped it open. The first page was a police report with a mug shot clipped to the top. For a moment she simply stared down at the face of their murder victim, struck by the fact that this kid was not just a vic, or a puzzle to figure out but that he'd lived and loved and laughed before somebody had taken that away.

Korsak's voice in her ear pulled her out her own head as he continued filling her in on the contents of the file. "He's been arrested four times in the past three years, all for minor drug charges."

Jane forced her eyes past the picture to the typed pages of the file. "But nothing in the past year. He was getting clean. So, what's he doing in a dilapitated drug house?"

"Fell off the wagon?"

"Makes sense." Jane knew how difficult it was for an addict to keep clean. She'd watched her brother Tommy struggle with drugs through his teens and most of his adult life. "He could have been meeting his dealer. Or trying to re-establish an old connection."

She glanced over Korsak to see what he thought of her theory. He was quiet for a moment then nodded and said, "means he probably known his killer."

"And that the murder wasn't planned. Heat of the moment. Maybe even accidental. Probably used something they found on scene. Crime lab might have it in with all the evidence they're processing."

"Unless the killer took it with him."

"Wouldn't that be more risky than just wiping down whatever he used and leaving it at the scene?"

"Depends on how visible the weapon would be to anyone who might see him making his getaway. If the crime lab finds something, they'll let us know. In the meantime, we need to start interviewing Behr's family and friends."

It took two days of knocking on doors and interviewing James Behr's family and friends before they got a lead. Or rather, it took two days of Korsak interviewing and Jane observing and taking note of things like body language and eye contact and different ways to approach a witness, depending on their attitude.

His parents, understandably, weren't much help. They were adamant that their son wasn't using again and too grief stricken to be able to offer much of use to the investigatioin. His friends and co-workers weren't much better. Most of them were new in James' life, people he'd met in the past year or so. New job, new apartment, new life, he'd been serious about getting clean. But, something had obviously pushed him over the edge, and they were trying to figure out what that was.

It was his ex-girlfriend who finally got them on the right track. She remembered a guy they'd run into about three months ago, an old friend of James'. Someone he'd grown up with. And that after that meeting, he'd changed. Gotten moodier, darker. That was why they'd broken up. She didn't remember much about him, just his name, Liam Cahill.

It didn't take long for Jane and Korsak to track down Cahill, a dealer from James' old neighbourhood and it took them even less time to get a confession out of him. The two had met, argued over the price and quality of the product and Cahill had struck James with the broken off end of a chair leg.

They had caught their bad guy. But it was a hollow sort of victory. Cahill would go to jail but James was still dead. His parents had still lost their son. He'd still had his life cut short.

"You did good, kid."

Jane looked up as Korsak leaned agains the edge of her desk. She couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips at his praise but the compliment didn't fully penetrate. Her thoughts were still on the young man who had worked so hard to better himself only to be pulled back down again.

"Thanks, Korsak."

"It's late, let's get out of here." Korsak pushed himself off her desk. "Let me buy you a beer."

She glanced at the stack of paperwork the case had generated then back at her new partner. "Sounds good to me." She stood and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair.

They went to the bar around the corner, a regular hangout for those who worked in the justice department, cops, lawyers, even a couple of CSI's. They all headed there at the end of a long day to have a few drinks and unwind. Korsak introduced her around and lauded her with praise for the work she had done on her first case.

The guys were a little reserved at first but it didn't take long before she was one of the guys. A couple of beers, kicking ass in a couple of pool games and they were laughing and joking with her as if they'd been doing it for years.

By the end of the evening when Jane left to catch a cab home she was feeling slightly buzzed and completely relaxed. The past 48 hours had been some of the toughtest of her life. Even though she'd been working to get into homicide from almost the moment she'd put on her uniform there was still something slightly horrifying about actually standing over someone's dead body, of sifting through the details of their life and piecing together their last moments.

She didn't regret her choice though. This was what she was meant to do.

"You missed a good time last night." Jane drew up alongside Dr. Isles at the coffee cart just down the street from work.

"Excuse me?" Dr Isles glanced over, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"At the bar, last night." Jane jerked her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the bar around the corner.

The doctor continued to stare at her, as if she had absolutely no idea what Jane was talking about.

"Korsak and I closed the case yesterday." Still, nothing. "The kid who got his skull cracked open in an abandoned house. Korsak and I caught the killer. We went out to the bar to celebrate."

Dr. Isles nodded. "That's good. Congradulations. I'm sure it was quiet satisfying to close your first case so quickly."

"Yes, it was," Jane said, eyeing the other woman as she stepped up to order her coffee. She'd heard people saying that the ME was weird. Now she was beginning to see what they meant. "It was also quite satisfying to go out and have a drink with the people I worked with."

Dr Isles accepted her coffee from the vendor and turned to face Jane. "I'm still not entirely sure what that has to do with me."

Really? Jane just stared at for a moment. "You worked the case too. You should have come out for a drink with us." She couldn't believe she had to spell it out like this. For someone supposedly so bright, she was certainly rather dense.

"Who, me?" Dr Isles asked, sounding as if just the idea of it was shocking and strange.

"Yeah, you." Jane stepped up to order her coffee, then turned back to the doctor, who was staring at her with a puzzled expression on her face.

"I've never done that before." Said so firmly, as if never having done something before meant she could never do it.

"Really? Never?" It was surprising, and also, a little sad. Dr. Isles worked with these people day in and day out, sharing the same horrors of the same cases and she never went out with them after a tough case to kick back and tell jokes and laugh and try to banish some of that darkness for a little while?

Dr. Isles gave a little half shrug. "No."

"Uh-huh. Well, next time, you should."

Jane accepted her coffee and took a small sip, nearly scalding her tongue in the process but finding it worth it for that quick infusion of sugar and caffeine in her system.

The doctor made a non-commital noise in the back of her throat. "If you were out drinking last night, you really shouldn't be drinking coffee," she said as she turned and headed towards the building. "Caffeine dehydrates you. Water would be better."

Jane opened her mouth to reply then closed it and shook her head before trailing the other woman into work.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**I don't own 'em. I just want to play with them a little.

**Pairing:** Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles

**Timeline:** pre-all the episodes of the show.

**Summary: **This is my spin on how Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles might have become friends. Eventual femslash

**Rating: **G for now. But the rating will likely go up with later chapters.

**Author's Note:**I apologize for the spelling mistakes. I don't have spell check on my computer and even though I proofread a couple of times there are always words I miss. And a few words that for some reason I always spell wrong, like congratulations. If you point them out to me, I'll make an effort to correct them the next time I use them.

rachelanne6791, Thank you for reading, and for commenting. I'm glad that you think that I've managed to get the dialogue down. It's harder than I thought it would be. I'll be adding more as the story progresses and their relationship develops.

notsure2010 lol. Maybe. And if not, she's certainly well on her way.

vmikki67 She did at that. Thanks for reading and commenting. I'm glad youre finding the story believable

LAH40 Thank you.

Transylvanian Thanks for reading, and replying.

mudpiegirl Thank you. I was writing it thinking that Maura had never been invited to join the group before and never even considered that she should want to. And, there isn't going to be any "I can't believe I'm gay" drama. Relationship drama, probably, but the story is about how the relationship develops and unfolds.

System D Rail Thank you. Yeah, I kind of see Jane as the one who bridges the gap for Maura between work and the rest of humanity.

Jane was learning a lot working with Korsak. He was a good teacher. He listened to her theories and gave her the leeway to follow her instincts but was also quick to challenge her if he thought she was headed in the wrong direction. She was actually a little surprised. Jane had half expected to spend her rookie year getting coffee and doing grunt work. When she asked Korsak about it he told her that he didn't need a lackey, he needed a partner. Someone he could bounce ideas off of and who would catch the things he missed. And Jane was eager to prove that she could do that. She could be his partner and help solve the cases and have his back.

It was tough, standing over dead bodies, seeing lives reduced to empty eyes and forensic jargon, to sitting with families in their moments of grief and having to push them through it to get information. Her eyes stung and her throat constricted painfully as she watched mothers weep and fathers stoically clench their jaws as she and Korsak pushed for information, for details. She felt like a monster urging them to remember when they'd rather forget. To contemplate what they'd rather ignore. She left those interviews with a bad taste in her mouth, wishing there was another way.

But at the same time, she loved the challenge of it, the puzzle of the witnesses memories and the suspects stories. Of putting all the pieces together until the truth became clear. `

Some of the cases took longer to crack than others. Some suspects were particularly good at lying and at times there were no supects at all. And that's where the forensics came in with a fibre, a fingerprint or some DNA. All just more pieces to the puzzle. Other cases, the doer was obvious almost before the body made it to the morgue. The abusive husband who took one swing to many, the greedy heirs who were too impatient to wait for their elderly relative to die. People killed for all sorts of reasons. Most of the time it was tragic and senseless.

And sometimes it was utterly heartbreaking.

Jane could tell this one was going to be a bad one before she even made it out of the car. Normally a crime scene was a buzz with activity, uniforms corrallling the curious and the morbid who had gathered outside the tape to watch, crime scene techs combing over every inch of the scene and cops filling every corner, making calls and searching for clues. When Korsak pulled up in front of the house the first thing Jane noticed was how still everything looked. The small crowd that had gathered beyond the yellow tape was huddling together, looking on with sad, quiet eyes and the uniforms stood silently, shoulders rigid, stances taunt. Techs moved slowly through the bushes outside the house, their motions deliberate and tense.

She knew it was going to be a bad one and still she wasn't prepared when she stepped into the room with the body.

"Christ, she's just a kid." Jane took one look at the body and swayed unsteadily on her feet. Their victim was a girl, maybe 10 or eleven. She was lying on the floor of the living room, bruised and beaten with a gun shot wound in her chest.

She felt a steadying hand on her shoulder and when she looked over she saw Korsak clenching his jaw.

"Korsak..." her voice broke and she swallowed against the lump in her throat.

"I know, kid. I know."

"Liver temp suggests she'd been dead two hours. The bruising to her face is extensive but it appears to be mostly supperficial. It doesn't feel like any of the bones in her jaw or cheeks are broken."

Jane's head snapped up to where Dr. Isles was crouched over the body. She hadn't even noticed the other woman was in the room.

"Jesus, Isles, can't you act human for one minute?" Jane snapped. What was with this woman? Didn't she care that this was a little girl she was talking about with such calm, medical efficiency?

What kind of person could stand over a body and not flinch, not ever, even when it was a little kid. It was moments like these when she could certainly understand why some of the other cops called Dr Isles the Queen of the Dead.

Dr. Isles blinked up at her, and Jane saw a wave of emotion pass across her features before her expression settled into professional politeness. "And how would that help her, Detective?" she asked softly, her voice even but with a hint of edge to it. "Horrible things have happened to this child. I can't change that. What I can do is find out everything I can about how she died so you can find the person who did this to her."

Jane resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She hated when Dr. Isles used logic on her. It was just so damn rational and...and logical.

She inclined her head towards the M.E. and turned to Korsak. "What do we know?"

"Not much. 911 call came into dispatch around 7, a neighbour saw what they thought was someone breaking in. They sent a patrol car over. When the uniforms got here they found the door wide open and..." he trailed off and gestured vaguely.

Jane took a deep breath, forcing thoughts of the child lying less than two feet away out of her mind and tried to get into investigative mode.

It was late by the time Jane made it back to the precinct, nearly midnight. She'd spent the last several hours talking to the parents, who were beside themselves with grief and canvasing the neighbourhood to see if anyone had gotten a look at the perpetrator. From the looks of the case it was a home invasion gone wrong. The thief, or thieves had broke in, gotten surprised by the girl, killed her, robbed the home and left.

The crime techs had lifted some shoe prints from the carpet, a couple of prints and dozens of fibers. Now they were facing the daunting task of going through everything and determining what was relevant to the case and what wasn't.

Right now, Jane was headed down to see what Dr. Isles autopsy had turned up. She strode into the morgue with barely a falter in her step. The piece of gum tucked into her cheek masked the smells and thankfully, the body was no longer on the table. She wasn't sure she would have been able to see that little girl cut open like that.

She found Dr. Isles in her office at her desk. The room was dark except for the faint blue glow of her laptop. She glanced up as Jane walked in.

"Detective Rizzoli. I'm just finishing up my autopsy report. I'll have it for you in a few minutes."

"Peace offering?" Jane held out a cup of coffee to the M.E. She'd stopped on the way up to get some for herself and decided to pick one up for Dr. Isles as well.. "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier," she added. "At the crime scene, it was just..." she trailed off as she sank down into the chair opposite Dr. Isles desk.

"It's okay."

"I didn't mean to..." she trailed off again, not quite sure what she hadn't meant to do. Call Dr. Isles not human? Hurt her feelings? "I didn't mean it."

"I know."

Jane took a sip off her coffee and felt her entire body deflate. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Stay so unemotional? Because... I could really use some of that right now."

"It's just compartmentalizing. You learn how to put away everything but what you need. It's really just a matter of..."

Jane tuned out as Dr. Isles explained the process, When she started hearing words like neurons and pathways, she knew she'd made the right call. Most of it would have gone over her head anyway.

She knew that what Dr. Isles was saying was true. And she tried to do it. But, sometimes, she just couldn't.

Eventually, Dr. Isles description or lecture of whatever petered off and the two of them sipped their coffees in silence for awhile, their breathing and the gentle clicking of Dr. Isles nails against the keyboard filling the room. The sound of it was oddly soothing and by the time Jane was finished her coffee she was feeling a lot less raw.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**I own nothing. These characters belong to Tess Gerritsten and TNT and whoever else owns rights to them.

**Pairing:**Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles

**Summary:** A look at how the relationship between these to wowmen might have formed. Jane is a rookie detective, Maura is the M.E.

**Timeline: **Based on the tv series, not the books. Takes place before the first episode.

**Rating:**G for now. Will go up with later chapters.

**Author's Note:**Sorry this was such a long time coming. I got stuck. But, I made this chapter a long one, so hopefully that will make up for the wait.

lala3025 I'm glad that you're finding the interactions and characters to be true to what the show has established. I've been working hard at that so I'm glad that it's working out.

rachelanne6791 I've been giving each chapter a couple extra reads to try and correct as many spelling errors and typos as I can. I've been trying to keep the voice of each characters and not turn them into charicatures but it's hard. I can see how some authors end up doing it. I'm glad to see that you think it's working.

FicAddy Well, I'm honored that this story is on the way to becoming personal favourite of yours (especially so early on)and I hope I don't dissapoint. I'm like you, I like to read about the progression of the relationship before all the M-rated stuff (though I do like me some M rated stuff). And I agree, Angie and Sasha totally rock these characters, and their chemistry is amazing. It's them that keeps me watching week to week

Tate Freak I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Thanks for reading/replying.

Steeleafan Thanks for reading. And for replying.

elfspirit7 , hey I know you. You're reading Indelible. Thanks for reading another of my stories. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

xxIceEyesxx27 Another familiar name. Thanks for reading and for your reply.

vmikki67 I'm glad that you didn't miss the chapter. Thanks for reading. And for replying.

**Chapter 5 **

It was late, well past midnight, coming on to one a.m. and Jane had been up since six a.m the previous morning. At this point, she was running on fumes. The best thing for her to do would be to go home, get some sleep and come back to the case in the morning refreshed and rested. The problem was, Jane knew that if she went home she wouldn't get any sleep. She'd spend the night tossing and turning, too worked up to settle, her mind too active to shut down. The last thing she felt like doing was going back to her apartment and being alone with her thoughts and the image of that little girl's bruised and bloody face, which was burned into her brain.

And Dr. Isles was pretty good company. Sure, she was a little weird and Jane didn't understand half of what came out of her mouth sometimes but she'd been patient in going over the autopsy report with her, breaking down the medical jargon into plain english that Jane could understand, without being condescending about it.

"I think that we've covered everything," Dr Isles said, flipping through the pages in her hands, giving each on a cursory glance and then set them down onto the desk with a faint nod. "Except for a few tests still pending, there's not much more the body can tell us."

Jane nodded. "Right. Thanks for doing this. For taking the time now."

"Of course."

Jane was glad to have her on this case. Despite what Jane had snapped at her earlier that day, about not being human, it was clear from the time and precision Isles took that she did care about the bodies that ended up on her table.

Why else would she be here in the middle of the night going over an autopsy report with Jane? She could have put that off until morning. Or passed off the autopsy to one of the pathologists working the night shift.

She really is the Queen of the Dead, Jane thought. Only, she didn't think it disparagingly, the way some of her collegues did. No, she thought of it more as a point of honor. Dr. Isles gave a voice to those who couldn't speak for themselves anymore.

Even if it was a little creepy, cutting up dead people.

She shivered a little, at the thought. Then cast a glance across the desk at Dr. Isles, feeling a little guilty at thinking that way when the other woman was sitting right there.

"You all right?"

Jane nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. It's just..." she hesitated, not sure whether or not to broach the subject then decided to forge on ahead. "how did you end up doing this for a living?" She gestured vaguely with her hands to the room at large.

Dr. Isles lips twitched in a smile and Jane realized that she was trying not to laugh.

"What?"

Dr Isles let out a peal of laughter, then immediately bit her lip, a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you... but for a moment there you sounded like every guy who's ever hit on me."

Jane couldn't help the smile that played at the corner of her lips. She could well imagine what Dr. Isles had said. She'd had plenty of moment like that herself when people found out she wa a cop.

"Oh you mean like, 'how'd a pretty little thing like you end up with a job like that?'" As she spoke, Jane leaned forward, placing one elbow up on the desk and putting a bit of a leer into her voice and expression.

Dr. Isles regarded her for a moment and then burst out laughing. A deep, throaty laugh that Jane found herself responding too and was soon wiping tears from her eyes and clutching at her sides as she tried to get back some control. It felt good to be laughing though, even if it was a punch drunk sort of humour caused by too much caffeine and not enough sleep.

"Oh, man, I needed that," Jane said, slumping back in her chair and wiping at the dampness in the corners of her eyes. She was still feeling wrung out but some of the days tension had left her body.

"Laughter is a good way to release tension and improve your mood," Dr. Isles agreed.

Jane tuned her out as she explained something about the release of endorphins or hormones or some such. There was a reason she hadn't gone into medicine...science was boring. And definitely not her strong suit. She'd failed the volcano experiment in fourth grade. Instead of foaming and spewing faux lava like everyone else's hers had bubbled lightly and then gone still. Apparently there was a difference between baking soda and baking powder.

"So, how did a pretty little thing like you end up with a job like this?" Jane interrupted Dr. Isles with, getting back to her original question and halting the biology lession.

Dr. Isles paused mid-sentence and gave Jane a measuring look. Jane froze, realizing how that must have sounded. A blush spread across her cheeks and she fought the urge to fidget, or bolt and forced herself to remain still under the other woman's gaze. She hadn't meant it to be flirty. That was a line that Jane was not willing to cross with a collegue. Especially not one she was still establishing a working relationship with.

Except that the enigmatic little smile and the flip of hair over her shoulder as Dr. Isles shifted in her chair was definitely a response to Jane's words, even if her tone was serious as she replied.

"I've always had an interest in science," she said. "And, human anatomy is quite fascinating."

Jane bit back a sarcastic remark.

"So, it was only natural that I would choose to go to medical school."

That much, Jane understood. It was the step from medical school to becoming a medical examiner that she couldn't quite fathom. Why hadn't Dr. Isles become a surgeon or something?

"But, how did you end up here?"

Dr. Isles was silent for a long moment. So long that Jane began to think she wasn't going to answer.

"I like the challenge of the puzzle," Dr Isles said. "Of piecing together the clues given by the human body." She paused for a moment, considering her words carefully. Or, perhaps considering whether or not to say anything more. "And, to be honest, the thought of working with living, breathing patients is somewhat terrifying."

Jane gazed at her in surprise. Dr. Isles, calm, collected Dr. Isles was afraid of working with live patients?

She had a feeling that this was an admission that the doctor did not make lightly, or often. And Jane couldn't help but feel privledged that she had decided to share this with her.

A heavy silence hung in the air between them and Jane realized that Isles was waiting for a response of some kind. And, from the tension in her shoulders and jaw, it appeared she was expecting it to be negative. Probably thought Jane would laugh at her.

"Makes sense," she said with a nod. And it did. The thought of cutting open dead people was creepy. But, cutting into a live body, with the possibility that your actions could hurt or even kill them, well that was a hundred times creepier. Having a medical degree didn't change that.

"What made you decide to become a police officer?"

Jane slumped even further down in her chair, stretching her long legs out in front of her and crossing them at the ankles. "You know those career aptitute tests they make you take in high school?"

Dr. Isles nodded but from the blank expression on her face Jane had a feeling that she had never actually take one. There was no spark of recognition as the memory of own results flashed before her eyes.

"Well, we did ours junior year. Right around when they started bringing in reps from different schools and doing job fairs and all that. So, I took mine and when the results came back, cop was the top result. Most points of compatability or whatever. And, through all the rest of it, college fairs and career councelling and all that, it stayed with me. So, when it came time to apply to schools, I applied to the academy. Much to the horror of my parents, I might add."

They'd been apalled by the thought of their little girl out there on the street, carrying a gun and chasing after bad guys for a living. They'd tried to talk her out of it. They'd called the school, their priest, everyone they could think of to convince her to rethink her decision but Jane had been steadfast.

Her father had come around when he'd seen how much Jane wanted this. But her mother hadn't talked to her for almost a month after she'd started at the academy.

"My mom's still mad at me. Keeps telling me about all her friends from the neighbourhood and what their daughters are doing. As if the fact that Victoria Berelli is marrying a pharmacist or Tanya Giavanni is pregnant with her third child is some kind of enticement." Jane knew that her mother was just worried about her more than anything else but it would be nice if she'd just accept Jane's choice.

"My mother was dissapointed when I told her," Isles said. "She was upset that, while she would have the distinction of telling her friends that her daughter was a doctor she would also have to tell them I worked on corpses if they asked her my specialty."

Jane couldn't help her wry laugh at that. Or the wide yawn that followed. A quick glance at her watch revealed that it was now almost 2 a.m.

"Sorry."

"Is that a comment on the company? Or the conversation?"

Jane's cheeks heated in a blush as she stammered out a response, a denial. Only to catch the smirk on Isles' face a moment later and realized she'd been teasing.

Jane rolled her eyes in response.

"It is quite late. Perhaps it is time for bed?"

Jane started at the other woman's words and tried to ignore the heat that flashed through her. That wasn't what she'd meant.

But, surely Isles realized how her words had come across. Yet, a guick glance up at her expression revealed nothing, no teasing grin or playful glint in her eyes.

Obviously Jane was just reading too much into things. Her overtired, over-caffeinated brain was picking up signals that weren't there. "Definitely time for bed," she said with a sigh as she uncrossed her ankles and forced her body out of the chair.

Dr. Isles stood as well and Jane waited while she shut down her computer and gathered her purse and coat. Then the two of them walked out together in a comfortable silence. The elevator ride was short but still seemed much to long to be standing for Jane's tired, weary body. By the time they reached the parking garage all she could think about was stretching out on her bed and falling into oblivion for several hours.


	6. Chapter 6

**For all disclaimers see Chater 1**

**Author's Note:** I signed up for NaNo Write this year. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, NaNo Write stands for National Novel Writing Month. It is an insane endeavor in which every November writers attempt to write a 50 000 word novel in a month. It's going to take up a lot of my time over the next 30 days, so it may be a little longer between updates but I'll try to keep them coming in a timely manner.

HBCarolyn Thanks for reading. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. And that you find the characters to be in character. Doing that is harder than I thought it would be.

LadyLampshade Thank you. And thanks for reading. I'm glad that you are finding the characters to be true to what the show has established. I don't know if I'll be doing any chapters from Maura's point of view because she is really hard to write and I don't know if I'd be able to do it.

Sara Thank you. I'm glad you liked that part. I almost didn't use it because I wasn't sure it worked. But if you think it did, then I'm glad I kept it.

rachelanne6791 Thank you. I'm not sure what I can do to take away that filler chapter feel, the story is the slow build of a relationship, mostly conversation and connection. But I'll see if I can't get a little more action going.

Riaddict Thank you for taking the time to comment. And I'm glad my story is helping someone else suffering from some R&I withdrawl. I know writing it has certainly helped me.

hello Thank you. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

JennJenn30 Well, welcome to the story. I'm glad that you found it and that you're enjoying it. I'm trying to build the chemistry slowly, to take them from first meeting to the point we see it on the show. I'm glad you think I'm making some progress. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

ttandme69 lol. I didn't even think of that. Maybe she does. Or maybe she was already crushing on Jane and was just trying to make an impression...Thanks for reading/commenting 

**Chapter 6**

"If you're night was anything like mine, you probably need this."

Jane looked up to see Dr. Isles hovering at the corner of her desk, two steaming styrophoam cups in hand, one of which she was holding out for Jane to take.

"You are a Godsend." Eagerly she reached for the cup and cradled it in her hands, inhaling the sharp aroma of coffee with an appreciative sigh. She'd gotten home last night and crawled right into bed but had been unable to sleep. After a few hours of tossing and turning she'd gotten up and come back into work. The only thing keeping her going right now was determination and caffeine, both of which had started to wan over the past hour or so. She took a long sip then set the cup aside.

"Any leads?" Isles asked as she dropped gracefully into the chair next to Jane's desk.

She couldn't help but find it irritating that even though they'd gone home around the same time and probably gotten about the same amount of sleep, Isles looked well put together in her black dress pants and silky shirt, hair smooth and styled and rested while Jane looked and felt rumpled and tired.

Wearily, Jane shook her head in answer to the question. "Nothing. I've been calling pawn shops, giving them descriptions of the stolen items in case the perp tries to sell them. And looking at traffic cam footage, trying to see who turned onto that street around the time of the break-in and..." she trailed off, the list of things she'd been doing to try and catch the killer was extensive and completely fruitless so far. "I just..I want this guy, so bad." She let out a frustrated sigh and dropped her face into her hands as tears of anger and exhaustion pricked at the corners of her eyes.

"And you'll get him Jane," Dr. Isles said, leaning forward and placing a soothing hand on her back.

The use of her first name was not lost of Jane. Nor was the way her body reacted to the gentle touch. A shiver skittered down her spine, followed by a low heat that radiated across her back. This was bad. She could not be attracted to Maura Isles. That would make things way too complicated. They worked together. Closely together. It's not like Maura was someone peripheral to the investigations, she was right in there. Her findings were instrumental in piecing a lot of these cases together. Jane worked with her almost every day. She couldn't be attracted to someone she had to interact with so frequently.

Abruptly, Jane sat up and Maura's hand fell away but not before sliding along the length of her back. Another shiver coursed through her.

"I should really get back to this," Jane said, nodding her head towards the mess of papers on her desk. "Thanks for the coffee though." To emphasis she picked up her cup and took a sip.

Realizing that she was being dismissed, Maura stood quickly and smoothed non-existant wrinkles from her shirt and pants. "Of course," she said softly, her tone measured and calm. But the kicked-puppy look on her face was unmistakeable for a brief moment, before she was able to school her expression into a blank stare. "I'll let you get back to work."

Immediately, guilt coursed through her. Just because she couldn't keep a handle on her hormones didn't mean she had to be an ass.

"I'm sorry. It's just..." she trailed off, knowing that there was no decent explaination for her behaviour.

"It's a tough case." Maura readily gave her an out, which only made Jane feel worse.

"Yeah. And, I'll probably need a break from it again in a few hours. Maybe we could grab some lunch?"

The words were out of her mouth before she had a chance to think about them. Or censor them, which would have been the smartest, safest, thing to do. But the pleased smile that lit up Maura's face made her glad that she hadn't.


	7. Chapter 7

**For all disclaimers see Chapter 1**

AlexandriaVE I don't think Jane can stay away, even in this early stage of their friendship.

Goose197 It's coming, I don't think either one of them are oblivious, although Jane might be a bit reluctant.

Jits Thanks

LadyLampshade Thanks for reading and for taking the time to comment. Reviews make my day.

HBCarolyn Thank you. I've been trying to keep them in line with the show. This chapter hints at the question but I guess it doesn't quite answer it directly.

JennJenn30 Thank you.

ttandme69 Thanks. I'll try not to keep you waiting too long.

C. R. Hallmark Thank you. And thanks for reading.

hello Thank you.

wcduran I'm glad you like it. And, thank you.

vmikki67 Thank you. And thanks for taking the time to comment.

**Chapter 7**

By twelve thirty Jane's stomach had started to rumble and she was feeling a lot more settled. She was even looking forward to her lunch with Maura. After a bit of back and forth debating over the course of the morning as to whether or not she should cancel Jane had come to the conclusion that she was an adult and she could handle her attraction to Maura Isles. Just because she felt something for the other woman didn't mean she had to act on it.

This wouldn't be the first time she'd been physically drawn to someone innapropriate, there was her basketball coach in junior high, Bree Layton who'd played shortstop on her baseball team in high school, a couple of instructors at the academy. Nothing had come of it any of those times, this time didn't have to be any different. Eventually her attraction would fade and the friendship that seemed to be forming would remain.

She was actually feeling pretty good about her decision as she headed down to the morgue to see if Maura was ready to go. When she made her way downstairs she found Dr. Isles sitting in a chair by the counter with her laptop open in front of her.

She had her back to the door and didn't appear to hear Jane enter. For a moment Jane debated sneaking up on the other woman and purposefully startling her but then decided that it probably wasn't very nice. Especially considering they weren't even really friends yet. Instead, she let the door swing shut behind her with a whoosh and scuffed her feet a little as she approached.

Even then, she saw Maura jump slightly at the sound. It took every effort for Jane not to laugh.

"This is what you do down here all day?" Jane asked, catching site of the website that Maura was browsing. It wasn't a medical journal or a forensic site, no it was an online shoe catalouge. "And here I thought you were a hard working civil servant." She tisked and shook her head. "Jesus Christ, some of those cost more than my first car," she exclaimed, catching site of some of the price tags.

"Come on, Jane."

"No, seriously. My first car, I bought from my older brother Tommy for $150 and a case of beer." He'd built the car himself in a brief period of sobriety and then sold it to Jane for drug money a few months later. It had been a really, really crappy car. It wouldn't start in the winter and if you put on the air in the summer, the engine would overheat and die but it had been better than walking or taking the bus.

The look Maura gave her was one of pure perplexion and Jane couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in her throat at the site of it.

"What do you say we get out of here?" she said, letting the subject drop. She had a feeling that pursuing that line of conversation would just end badly. "I'm so hungry my stomach is starting to eat itself."

"Your stomach does not actually digest itself," Maura commented as she shut down her computer and grabbed her coat. "In times of extreme starvation your body will start to break down-"

"It's just a figure of speech," Jane interrupted. "It means I'm hungry and I'd like to get something to eat now."

"Of course. I'm not very familiar with too many of the restaurants in this area. Is there anywhere in particular you'd recommend eating?"

Jane thought about that as they took the elevator up to the lobby. "There's a deli around the block that makes the most amazing sandwiches."

Maura nodded in agreement and the two of them started down the street.

"Any leads?"

Jane didn't have to ask which case Maura was referring to. Even though she had a half dozen open cases on her desk right now there was only one that was really pressing on her.

"We got a print that matched a partial from another crime scene last month, but nobody to match it to. Whoever did this, they're not in the system." Jane continued on, telling Maura about the leads she'd pursued this morning. The other woman listened carefully, making noises of sympathy in all the right places and Jane had a feeling that if she wanted to spend the whole of their lunch going over and over the case, Maura would be willing. But, she didn't want to do that. She wanted to sit and talk and have a normal conversation. Something that didn't revolve around blood and death and sadness.

"You know what, enough shop talk," she said as they stepped inside the deli. "I need an hour away from the case. Let's talk about something else."

"What did you want to talk about?"

Jane gave a shrug. "I don't know. Geo-politics for all I care, I just don't want to think about things for a little while."

"You really want to talk about Geo-politics?" Maura asked and Jane couldn't help but wonder if she should be insulted. There was something in the tone of her voice that implied that Jane probably didn't even know what Geo-politics was. And, even though she didn't, really, she didn't like thinking that Maura didn't think she did.

"No, not really. I was just saying."

They ordered their meals, soup and a sanwhich for Maura, chili and a sub for Jane, and settled at a table in the back corner of the deli. Their conversastion centering more on getting to know each other a little better. The compared tastes in books and movies and music and realized they had absolutely nothing in common.

Jane, despite dealing with violence and death in her everyday life loved a good crime novel and had grown up watching action movies with her father and brothers so she still enjoyed a chase scene or a fiery explosion and her taste in music ran the gaumet from rock to pop to jazz. Maura was a fan of the classics, her favourite movies tended to have subtitles and she listened to mostly classical music.

They should have run out of things to talk about in the first few minutes and yet even as they finished their food and sipped their coffees they continued up a steady stream of conversation.

Maura told Jane about her fancy French boarding school and Jane told stories about growing up in South Boston with two brothers.

"Hey, don't look at me like that," Jane protested, noticing the peculiar expression on Maura's face as she finished telling her about Tommy and Frankie JR.

"Like what?"

"Like..like you're diagnosing me. Being the middle child is not some kind of syndrome or...or a defecit or something."

"Of course not."

"So, stop it."

"I assure you Jane, I am not doing anything."

Jane wasn't sure she believed Maura or not but she decided to let it go. It was time to be heading back anyway. Korsack would be waiting for her so they could go downtown and talk to a couple of contacts.

She was feeling rather proud of herself as they walked back to headquarters, she'd done pretty well over the course of their lunch. She had barely peeked down Maura's blouse when she'd leaned across the table for salt. And, she hadn't really meant to keep brushing her leg against Maura's, but chairs were small and the space beneath the tables cramped, she couldn't help it that she needed to stretch. All in all, she was rather satisfied that she'd managed to adhere to her decision to not act on her attraction.

Of course, Maura hadn't exactly made it easy for her. For all the times Jane was pointedly not looking down her top and trying to keep their legs from bumping together underneath the table Maura was leaning forward as she spoke, the rough edge of the table causing the already too low-cut collar of her shirt to pull down even further, revealing just a little bit more cleavage and brushing her knee against Jane's.

It was making her wonder whether an advance might be welcomed.


	8. Chapter 8

**For all disclaimers see Chapter One.**

**Author's Note: **Sorry this chapter was such a long time coming, I got hit with writers block about midway through and it took me awhile to shake it off.

_Sara _Thank you. I didn't intend that part to be funny when I was writing it, it just sort of turned out that way. I'm glad that I could make you laugh.

AlexandriaVE lol. We know and she knows it, she's just not ready to admit it. I wanted to put a little bit about Maura's response to Jane in here. She has to be thinking something in all of this, after all.

Transylvanian Thank you.

JennJenn30 I think this chapter will answer your question a little bit. In a way. Maura's been really hard to write so I'm glad that you're finding her characterization believable.

ttandme69 yep. Maura's subtle but she knows how to work it.

C. R. Hallmark Thank you.

HBCarolyn Thanks. I try to keep the updates coming frequently. Some weeks it works better than others.

elfspirit7 Hey, I get it, real life intervenes. Thanks for reading and replying when you have the time.

**Chapter 8**

It wasn't the case that Jane was thinking about when she made it home from work that night. Despite the growing sense of frustration and helplessness at not being able to get a lead on that poor girls' killer all Jane's thoughts were centered around a certain medical examiner and the lunch they'd shared that afternoon.

She was fairly certain that Maura had been subtly flirting with her. It was hard to know for certain though because Maura was still a bit of of a myster to Jane. She didn't understand half the stuff that came out of her mouth and she wasn't entire sure the sometimes socially awkward woman was fully aware of the signals that she was sending out.

As she set about making dinner, a simple meal of grilled chicken and a salad because she was too tired to expend any more effort than that, she played the days interactions over in her head, picking it apart. One moment she was convinced that Maura's touch to her back had been a caress, the next it was a simple comforting gesture. A slight brush of fingers against her hand was intentional, the next it was accidental. Her smiles had been flirtatious. They had merely been friendly. She went over every smile, every look, every flip of her hair, searching for hidden meaning.

She was a detective, she should be able to figure this out. And yet her back and forth all evening. As she washed up her dinner dishes, as she tidied up her apartment, as she did a load of laundry and even still when she climbed into bed.

Instead of drifting off she lay awake, mind racing and libido rising as she remembered the way Maura filled out that form fitting blouse and the way it had felt when her foot brushed against Jane's calf beneath the table.

"God, I need to get laid," Jane mumbled to the ceiling. Maybe then she could stop thinking about her collegue like this. It had been five, six months since she'd "gotten it regular" as Frankie said, since she and Emily had broken up.

There had been that girl Lilly or Lila or something that she'd met at the party thrown for her when she'd made detective and that chick at Frankie's birthday party last month but the occasional hookup wasn't the same as being with a lover. Casual sex was all well and good but it just didn't sate the body the way it did with a regular partner.

And she was willing to bet that there was some kind of scientific reason for it too. Maura would probably be able to recite statistics to her.

Groaning in frustration she rolled and buried her face in the pillow. She did not need to be thinking of Maura in any way, shape or form, in the same thought as sex. It was just going to lead to images...and too late, suddenly she was imaging Maura flushed and breathless, moving against her.

Jane groaned again, this time with an entirely different inflection and tried to banish the thoughts. But, it was no use, the image was now lodged in her brain. She tried thinking of other things to distract herself but it was no use, her mind kept returning to Maura.

Eventually she drifted off into a restless, dream filled sleep that left her shaking and in need of a cold shower when she woke up. She couldn't remember the specifics of any of her dreams but she knew instinctively that they had featured Maura in erotic glory.

This was great. Just great. Instead of fading her attraction was growing stronger. She was never going to be able face the other woman now.

It was immature. It was ridiculous but Jane was just going to have to avoid Maura until she got herself sorted out.

And that was a shame too, because attraction aside, Jane liked Maura. She was different from anyone Jane had ever known, a little weird maybe but also sweet and smart and funny and kind. Not to mention driven and passionate about her work. Jane had really been enjoying getting to know her. She was dissapointed that she might miss out on a good friendship because she couldn't keep her hormones in check.

Jane tried to keep their interactions to a minimum. She couldn't avoid the other woman completely, their jobs wouldn't allow it but she kept her distance away from crime scenes and outside the morgue.

When Maura called up and asked if Jane had time for lunch, Jane said she couldn't, that she was chasing down a lead and couldn't take the time away. If she stopped by Jane's desk to see if she wanted to take a quick coffee break, Jane said thanks but she couldn't, she was working the case and didn't want to lose her concentration.

If Maura knew she was dodging her she didn't let on. She accepted Jane's answers with a shrug and a "maybe next time." She understood, after all, how important Jane's job was to her and that not having a suspect in that little girl's murder was eating at her. It almost made Jane feel worse. Not that it would have been any better if Maura had called her out on her behaviour. It was just a bad situation all around. And Jane didn't know how to get out of it.

Jane was using work as an excuse so often she was just fortunate that she and Korsack were actually closing their cases. They'd even gotten a lead on their robbery/homicide case. A patrol car had stopped a vehicle for speeding about three blocks away from their crime scene shortly after the estimated time of the murder. They'd run the plate and the guy, Daniel Ryson came up clean but Jane and Korsack decided to pay him a visit. It was possible he'd seen something without realizing it and at this point they were desperate. They'd take anything.

When they showed up at his door he'd thrown his bottle of beer at them and slammed the door in their face. Korsack busted open the door and he and Jane had taken the guy down, kicking and screaming. She had a split lip and a bruise forming on her temple and Korsack had a nast scratch running along his cheek. Turns out Daniel Ryson was an alias for Joshua Cray, who had a record for burglary and assault.

He was in interrogation right now and had been for hours. She and Korsack had been taking turns working him, trying to get him to crack. So far he'd said nothing. They were waiting on a warrant so they could check his DNA against that lifted from the crime scene. Hopefully that would be enough to get a confession.

"I hear you have a suspect in custody for that little girl's murder."

Jane jumped, startled at the sound of that soft, familiar voice almost in her ear. Slowly she turned around and found herself face to face with Maura Isles, who she had managed to successfully avoid for the last two days. She glanced up and down the hallway outside the interrogation room and saw that they were alone. And Maura was standing really close.

"Hey, Maura. Yeah. We got him. Korsack's in there right now trying to get him to give himself up," she jerked her thumb over her shoulder in the direction the room, where Maura could very clearly see through the two way mirror that Korsack was indeed talking with the suspect. She shifted uncomfortably as she talked, easing her body backwards to put a bit of space between the two of them. "He hasn't said anything yet," she continued, "but I know he's our guy. I can feel it."

Maura pursed her lips at Jane, looking like she was going to say something, probably something scientific about how you couldn't really know something like that based on a feeling, then shook her head lightly.

"That's great, Jane," she said softly. It was obviously not what she wanted to say but it was all that she had.

Jane glanced over her shoulder into the room and then back at Maura, feeling awkward and uncomfortable and hating every moment of it. The two of them used to have more to say to each other than this but Jane had put so much distance between them over the last couple weeks that now it was like they were strangers all over again.

"You should really put some ice on your lip before it starts to swell," Maura said into the silence that hung between them.

Jane's hand came up automtically and she fingered the small split at the corner of her mouth. It had bled profusely in the car back to headquarters but it didn't really bother her much anymore. Wasn't the first split lip she'd had, probably wouldn't be the last either but it was the first injury given to her by a suspect and she was almost proud of it.

"Of course, you probably think of it as a badge of honor," Maura continued. It was uncanny the way her words so mirrored Jane's thoughts.

But it wasn't the words that Jane took notice of, it was the way Maura's eyes had followed the movement of her finger across her lip and the intensity of her stare in that moment. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart seized for a moment.

And then she remembered that it didn't really matter whether or not Maura returned her attraction or not, they worked together, they had a job to do and they really shouldn't be doing anything to screw that up.

"You know, Jane," Maura said, her voice so casual, so conversational that Jane expected her next words to be something completely innocuous. And definitely not what actually came out of her mouth. "If we just had sex it would relieve some of this tension between us and then maybe you and I could go back to becoming friends."


	9. Chapter 9

**For all disclaimers see Chapter 1**

celluloidtears Thanks for reading and replying.

soccerstar11-5 Maura does just have a way with words,doesn't she?

LittleSpooky lol.

Transylvanian Thanks. I thought it would be a good way to make sure I had everyone's attention.

wcduran Thanks for reading. And replying. I hope that you enjoy Jane's reaction.

AlexandriaVE I like to keep things from being too predictable. Sometimes you gotta go with the straighforward approach. Especially on someone like Jane who tends to avoid.

Blakeigh Hollis Thanks for reading and for taking the time to reply.

vmikki67 Glad I could give you a laugh and make you feel better. And the writer's block in gone, the next chapter is already in the works.

Goose197 I hope that you enjoy Jane's reaction.

Sara lol. Not quite right then and there but I think you'll enjoy this next chapter.

Anon Thanks for reading and commenting. I try keep the updates coming quickly.

sharkbait nv I'm glad you're finding the pacing good. I thought maybe I'd rushed it a little but I wanted to get the story moving forward.

ttandme69 Thanks for reading and for taking the time to reply.

hello thanks.

Callie4ev I try not to be predictable, so if you weren't expecting that I've done my job. I'm not sure I could write Maura and have it be believable but I tried to explain her thought process a little in this chapter. Thanks for reading and replying.

nightterror56 I don't think Maura's innocent at all. :)

shamelesslove89 Thank you. I'm glad that you think so. I've been watching episodes over and over again trying to get their mannerisms and inflections right for this story. So I'm glad that you think it holds true.

**Chapter 9**

Maura's words hit her like a physical blow. She actually stumbled back under the weight of them, stopping only when her back hit the wall behind her.

"I'm sorry, what?" she spluttered.

"I said-"

"I know what you said. I just...you... Jesus, Maura you can't just go around propositioning people."

The expression on her face clearly read, why not?, though she didn't actually say the words and for a moment Jane couldn't help but wonder as well. A straightforward approach certainly made more sense than the games that most people played in relationships.

Maura was staring at her expectantly, which made Jane realized that she hadn't given a direct reply to her suggestion. And for a moment she found herself considering it. Then she came to her senses and shook her head.

"I'm an excellent lover."

Jane's hands came up, as if she could ward off the words and the images they invoked. "I don't doubt that," she sighed. "But we're friends. And adding sex into the mix...that could just mess everything up."

"Mess up what, exaclty?" Maura countered. "You've barely spoken to me in two weeks. And when you do talk to me, it's only about work. What kind of friendship is that?"

Jane opened her mouth to make a reply and then realized she had none.

"How long before it starts to effect our professional relationship as well?"

Jane started to protest, started to say that she'd never let anything get in the way of her devotion to her job but Maura wasn't finished, she continued on before Jane could even get a word in.

"It's already hard for you to be in the same room with me. You can barely look me in the eye. And, I have to admit that I have trouble concentrating when you stand close to me. And there's something about the way you say my name..."she trailed off and shook her head. "It's only going to grow stronger unless we do something about it. It will inevitably have an adverse effect on how we work together."

What Maura was saying was actually quite logical and rational. And Jane wasn't sure how she felt about that. Sex isn't logical, it isn't rational. It's heat and passion and hormones and emotions.

"There really is nothing to lose, but everything to gain here," Maura. "

"All right."

Maura drew in a breath and gave her a quizzical look. "What?"

"I said all right."

There was a long moment of silence in which Maura stared blankly at her for a moment and then a broad smile formed on her lips. "Oh, Jane, that's wonderful."

"Uh-huh." Even though she'd agreed Jane still felt a little awkward about the prospect. She'd never been in a situation quite like this before and she didn't know if they were making the right decision.

Maura's smile faded and her brow furrowed as she frowned. "If you don't want to-"

"No, I want too," Jane hastily assured her, then blushed at how eager her words made her sound. "It's...It's just weird is all." She wasn't sure how to explain what she was thinking, the contradicting emotions coarsing through her.

Maura inclined her head "It is a bit unorthodox," she acknowledged.

Jane just rolled her eyes at the other woman's word choice and pushed ahead with "when?"

Maura considered for a moment. "Tonight? Eight o' clock?. You can come over to my place."

Jane was nervous. Palm sweating, hands shaking, heart pounding nervous as she strode up the walk towards Maura's front door. She felt like she was 14 and on her first date all over again.

It was ridiculous how shaky she was feeling in this moment as her hand hovered to knock. With a sigh she dropped her hand and took a step back, seriously considering just turning around and walking away.

"You've made it this far," she muttered to herself and rapped her hand firmly against the door.

A moment later the door swung open. "Jane, hi," Maura greeted her with a warm, welcoming smile. I was begining to think that you weren't coming."

"I almost didn't," Jane admitted as Maura stepped back to allow her to enter. She had made it to her car then turned around and gone back upstairs, made it to her door and then gone back down. Once in her car she'd turned around three times and headed back for home. And then when she'd reached Maura's street she'd sat outside in the car for a good ten minutes before getting out and making her way up the walk.

"Why not?"

Jane wasn't sure she could explain it to herself let alone another person. "I don't know, exactly."

Maura played hostess smoothly, taking Jane's coat and ushering her into the living room even as Jane was still trying to formulate a proper response. She poured them each a glass of wine and gestured for Jane to sit on the couch as she took a set herself.

"I'm nervous," she said softly, taking a sip of wine and finding it's taste pleasantly sweet.

"Why's that?"

"I've never done this before."

"You mean, sex? Or sex with a woman?"

Jane nearly choked on her second sip of wine at Maura's blunt questioning. "God, Maura," she protested, wiping at her chin. She glanced up and saw the other woman was simply sitting there, waiting expectantly for her answer.

"I've had sex before. Lots of sex," Jane hastened to assure her. The last thing she wanted was Maura to think she was inexperienced. Lots of women. Well not lots of women." She didn't want Maura to think she was some kind of slut either.

"It's all right Jane."

"What about you?"

Maura gave her a half-smile. "I've had sex before."

"With women?"

"Yes, with women. Though it has been a few years."

"Since you've...or..."

"Since I've been with a woman."

"Well, it's like riding a bicycle."

"How is sex in any way like riding a bicycle?"

"It's like that saying, once you've learned you never forget."

Maura observed her, the expression on her face unreadable. "I assure you, I have not forgotten. And you still haven't answered my question."

"What was it again?"

"Why are you nervous?"

Jane let out a soft sigh. "I don't know." There really was no reason for her to be nervous. It wasn't a date, she didn't have to be witty and smart and make a good impression. Maura already knew her, knew she was sometimes abrupt and moody and got distracted by the cases she saw. She already knew that she was going to get some. That was the whole reason she was here, after all. She shouldn't be nevervous and yet she was.

"Are you worried about your performance?"

"NO. No," she answered more calmly. "I've never had any complaints in that department." She couldn't help the smug smile that tugged at her lips. "It's just, geez Maura this feels like a science experiment or something." Maybe it was a little bit about performance. She didn't want to look like an idiot in front of Maura if she couldn't put on a command performance. And maybe she was afraid of being a little too enthused? Maura knew she was attracted to her. And that she had figured it out when Jane was doing her best to hide it was embarrasing enough. What if she was more into it than Maura was?

"I'm not used to things happening this way."

Maura nodded. "And what way is that? Conversation? Wine? A comfortable, romantically lit setting?"

Jane looked around the room, took note of the low lights, the soft couch and the empty glasses of wine in their hands and couldn't help but chuckle.

"All right, you know what, smartass?" she took the glass from Maura's hand and placed it on the table next to her own then shifted so she was facing sideways on the couch and slid forward.

Her heart beat a stacatto in her chest as her knees bumped Maura's and she leaned forward close enough so that the other woman's breath brushed against her lips. She closed the distance between them slowly. Maura leaned towards her, lips parted, breathing increasing in anticipation. Jane's eyes fluttered shut as their lips met, a soft, feathery kiss that quelled any lingering hesitation in Jane's thoughts. She surged forward, seeking firmer contact and was rewarded by a return pressure.

When they pulled apart they were both breathless and flushed. Jane took a few ragged breaths and then dipped her head. This time she darted her tongue out, seeking entrance and Maura's lips parted for her. She took her time exploring, stroking her tongue along Maura's and then tracing around the inside of the other woman's mouth. This time when she pulled back it was with some reluctance and as soon as she'd taken a couple gulps of air she leaned back in again. And was soon lost in the taste and feel of Maura's lips on hers.

Her hands, which had found their way to Maura's waist when they'd first kissed, now began exploring. She slid them up Maura's back then down her sides to cup her breasts through the fabric of her shirt. Maura arched into her touch and tightened her grip, her fingers digging into Jane's shoulders painfully.

It was enough to clear Jane's head of the haze that she had fallen into. She pulled away, breaking the kiss and leaning against the back of the couch.

"What's wrong?" Maura's voice was huskier than usual.

"Nothing's wrong." Jane's own voice was sounding a bit more hoarse than it usually did as well. She rose to her feet and then took Maura's hands, pulling her to her feet as well. "I just think we should move this to the bedroom now," she explained. If they were going to do this, they were going to do this properly. "Where I can ravish every inch of you." She offered a leering smile and got a laugh in return.

"Let's go then."

Walking backwards, Jane led Maura across the room and into the bedroom.

"Much better," she said, settling on the end of the bed and pulling Maura to stand between her legs. Using their joined hands she pulled Maura down and captured her lips. Maura's lips left hers and forged a trail along her jaw and down the side of her neck. Hot, wet kisses and quick nibbles that left her panting and tipping her head back to give Maura more access.

She hissed out a breath between her teeth as Maura scraped her tongue along the base of her throat and then blew lightly against the abraded skin.

She dropped Maura's hands and began undoing the buttons of her blouse then dipped her head to kiss the skin exposed by the undoing of each button. She nipped and sucked at the skin just below the collarbone and Maura's hands came up to tangle in her hair, urging her on as her lips travelled lower and lower.

She kissed across the tops of Maura's breast, then down between them and across her smooth, flat stomach as she pushed Maura's blouse off her shoulders and it drifted down to the floor. She pulled Maura up to straddle her lap and reached around behind her to undo the clasp of her bra. It fell away and Jane turned her attention to the pert, ample breasts in front of her. She rolled her tongue across first one nipple, then the other, enjoying the way Maura cried out and arched into her, then took one into her mouth and bit down on it gently, earning herself another exclamation and a tug of her hair. Laughing lightly she repeated the motion then pulled back and blew on it. Maura's hands tightened in her hair and her thighs tightened around Jane's waist.

She continued her assault of Maura's breasts, biting and licking and sucking until Maura was gyrating pleasantly against her. The other woman's motions in her lap creating a heat and an ach deep in her center.

"Jane...please...I need..."

Jane had never heard Maura quite so inarticulate before and it was probably the sexiest thing she had ever heard. She released Maura's breast with a loud pop and raised her head. The site of her took Jane's breath away, her face was flushed and shining with a faint sheen of sweat and her eyes were so dark with desire they were almost black.

"What is it that you need?" As she asked this question, her hands slid between them and she rubbed a finger along Maura's centre through the fabric of her pants.

The response that she got was a less than coherent sigh and the bucking of Maura's hips.

"Hmmm, Maur, what is it?"

It wasn't often that Jane had the upper hand in their interactions and she was enjoying this probably far to much. But that didn't mean she had any intention of stopping. She quickly undid the button of Maura's pants and pulled them down over her hips just far enough to give her access. She slid her hand in and cupped Maura through the flimsy material of her panties.

"You had something you wanted to say?"

But Maura was beyond words now, she tugged painfully at Jane's hair and thrust her hips forward. Grinning, Jane pressed her lips to Maura's and slowly, ever so slowly, slid a finger beneath the elastic of Maura's panties and entered her.

Velvety wetness enclosed around her finger and she welcomed the feel of it. She stroked Maura's walls, bending and twisting before adding another and putting her long, dexterous fingers to good use.

Maura was close. She was on her knees, gripping Jane's shoulders and bearing her weight down onto Jane's hand, trying to get her to go deeper, faster.

But Jane wasn't quite ready yet, she kept her rythmn uneven, fast then slow, gentle strokes and then deep plunges as she lay back and slid down the bed. The new positioning brought Jane's head to rest between Maura's spread thighs.

She kissed her way across one thigh, then turned her head and trailed a path up the other until finally her lips found their way to the apex between Maura's thighs. She flicked her tongue across Maura's clit, earning herself a muffled cry and a low moan. When she bit down on it and scraped her tongue along it she illicited a long, loud scream. Followed by a sobbing plea.

Now Jane was ready. She replaced her fingers with her tongue and circled her thumb over Maura's clit, driving her to the edge and over.


	10. Chapter 10

**For all disclaimers see Chapter One.**

wcduran Thank you.

AlexandriaVE Thanks.

elle 1) Thank you. 2.:) 3)I enjoy keeping people on their toes 4)Thank you. I try to update regularly.

TheChosenKid Well, I'm glad you found the story. And as you read I hope you continue to enjoy it. I went with that route (not immediately best friends) because as you pointed out it's usually the ones you don't expect that become closest to you and I felt that might work with these two.

celluloidtears I suppose that's true. Go big or go home and all that.

Jits Thank you.

vox80 Well, thanks for taking the time to review now. It's not too much of a leap, is it? That Maura would suggest something like that. Or that Jane would go along with it?

SilverPackPup Better late than never, right? Thanks for reading and for commenting. I'm glad you're finding the characterizations accurate. And I'm glad I could make you laugh.

nightterror56 Thanks. I'm glad that her awkwardness came through. I wanted it it be very clear but I wasn't sure if I nailed it. As for the change in scenes, there was a short line of astericks but the site formatted them out when I uploaded. Sorry for the confusion.

JennJenn30 Thank you. I wanted the shift in Jane to be subtle but clear.

Gentry Thank you. I took full advantage of Maura's logical rational mind for this story. Without her I don't know how I would have gotten them together.

Sara Glad you enjoyed it. And that the characters reasons and reactions worked for you.

I'd probably have reacted the same way as you, still standing there dumbfounded but I thought this made a much better chapter. She'll probably have some teasing to do, though I don't think Maura was trying to make her feel dumb as much as get her to articulate her emotions.

Goose197 Thank you. I wanted Jane to establish some control early on but I have a feeling Maura is going to challenge that.

GSRCSILVR25 I'm glad you found the story. Thanks for reading.

**Author's Note: **Having never been with a woman myself I'm always a little uncertain about how the love scenes are going to go over. And I'm always somewhat amazed that they actually seem to work but they're so much fun to write and these characters are a lot of fun to play with so I couldn't reisist writing another.

Jane couldn't help but chuckle and glance over a the clock, taking note of the fact that it had been a good five minutes since Maura had collapsed against her and she still had not moved. She continued to lay practically draped on top of Jane, eyes closed, breathing erratic and rapid. Her weight pinned Jane in place but honestly, Jane did not mind. She was enjoying the way the other woman's body fit so nicely against her own.

Absently she ran her fingers along Maura's back, fingers tracing the contuors of her spine. Maura sighed softly and stirred against her. Jane felt the faintest of kisses against the side of her neck, a gentle, feathery touch that almost tickled and raised gooebumps on her skin. She pressed her fingers a little firmer against Maura's skin as she ran a hand down the other woman's back and then up her side and felt the kisses being brushed along her neck increase in pressure as well.

Maura's hands began to wander, sliding up and down Jane's sides, pulling the fabric of her shirt up a little bit with each pass until finally her fingers were coarsing across her skin.

She extended her neck, pressing her head back into the mattress beneath her to give Maura more access. And the other woman took. Her lips worked their way down Jane's neck. Gentle nips and licks across the sensitive skin sent shivers skittering down her spine. She couldn't prevent the moan that welled up in her throat when Maura nibbled on her collarbone or the faint gasp as she sucked at the pulse point at the base of her throat.

"Geeze, Maura," she gasped as the other woman's tongue dipped into the hollow of her throat. "Oh," she sighed as she felt a warm wisp of air against her skin.

Her hand pressed tightly against Maura's back, no longer exploring or tracing patters but held firmly against the skin, anchoring her body in place as Maura's lips trailed lower. She kissed across Jane's torso, following the low v-neck of her shirt down to the top of her breasts. Jane groaned at the loss of contact when Maura's lips hit fabric and she pulled away.

Then clutched convulsively at Maura's back as the other woman's mouth closed over her breast, t-shirt material and all. The coursenss of the fabric against her already sensitised nipple made her gasp and arch into the body above her. When Maura's tongue scraped across her, the fabric rasped roughly against her and her breath caught in her throat. Wet enevelop her as Maura sucked at her breast and the ache between her legs became an insistant throbbing.

Maura's hand slid beneath the fabric of her shirt and cupped the other breast, the one she wasn't slowly tormenting Jane with by biting and licking. Her fingers kneaded and pinched and Jane's eyes slammed shut as stars exploded behind her eyelids.

She wrapped her legs around Maura's waist and drew the other woman's hips down against her center, seeking some release for the pressure she could feel building there. The fabric of her jeans brushing against her center as she rolled her hips against the body above her was a delicious friction but not nearly satisfying enough.

She couldn't remember a time when she had been this aroused while still fully clothed. She had thought that the feeling of skin against skin was key to such heightened arousal but the textures and roughness of the fabrics against such sensitive spots was driving her insane.

How was is possible that she could be so close and yet still barely touched?

Her thoughts became a little unfocused around then as Maura slid a hand down between them and undid the button and fly of her jeans and the pressure against her center lessened.

Jane moaned in a combination of encouragment and dissapointment. But her moan quickly became one of pure encouragment as Maura tugged at the waistband of her pants, easing both her jeans and her underwear over her hips and down her thighs. Jane kicked the garmets aside and spread her legs, a silent invitation to Maura to continue.

"God, Maura," she hissed out as the other woman's fingers danced lightly up one thigh and down the other, just barely grazing the spot where Jane needed her most. She strained upward, searching for contact.

It was fleeting when it came, the lightest of brushes against her. A gentle stroke followed by the tip of a finger sliding inside her before retreating quickly. All the while Maura was teasing her breast with her tongue and the fabric of Jane's own shirt.

"Fuck. Maura." She let her arms fall from the other woman's back and gripped at the bedsheets instead. "Fuck," she hissed again as Maura slid inside her, entering her with one finger. It wasn't enough. Not nearly. Jane wanted to feel Maura. Wanted the other woman to fill her.

"Language, Jane." Maura admonished and Jane was caught between a laugh and a sob.

Maura was fingering her and she was chastising Jane about language?

"Fuck me," she ground out, enjoying the faint flinch that Maura gave at the course language. It sent shock waves coursing through her body. But they were faint and fleeting and Jane needed so much more than that.

Maura, she vaguely realized, wasn't comfortable with dirty talk. It wasn't something she could do much with right now, not in the state she was in, but it was something to be filed away for later.

It did the trick though, because when Maura slid out and then plunged back in she did it with three fingers this time. And her thumb flicked against Jane's clit.

Jane lost all conscious thought after that, her body taking over as she began to move in rythmn with Maura's hand. She was aware only of the feel of Maura's mouth closing over her breast, her tongue flicking against her as her fingers stroked and scissored inside her. Until finally the tension that had been building up inside her reached the point of unbearability and burst through her body in waves.

Now it was Jane's turn to lie motionless on the bed, muscles loose and quivering, limbs unresponsive to any attempts to move. Not that she had any desire to get up but she kind of wanted to wrap Maura in her arms and hold her close as she came down from her orgasm. But despite her best efforts her arms remained firmly at her sides, fingers still clutching the sheets so tightly her knuckles had gone white. She was just going to have to be content with the fact that Maura was still lying on top of her.

When Maura had said she was an excellent lover she had not been boasting or bragging. It had been a mere statement of fact.

Jane was more sated and satisfied right now than she could ever remember being.

"Hey, Maura," she whispered, her voice husky and a little hoarse.

"Hmm?"

"I think I found a little flaw in your theory."

"What's that?"

"I'm definitely going to want to do this again."

Maura propped herself up on one elbow so she could look at Jane. "Again?"

Jane nodded. "Yes. Again."

"Right now?"

Jane chuckled faintly. "God, no. I think it would kill me. I mean at some point in the near future. Hopefully, multiple times in the near future."

Maura nodded, her brow drawing together as she processed. "Okay. How is this a flaw?"

"Well for one thing, you said that if we slept together the tension between us would go away."

"Are you tense?" Maura asked.

Jane shook her head and grinned. "No. And you know that's not what I meant." And this is where it got sticky.

Jane didn't believe in casual sexual relationships. Casual sex, fine. A one off after a night out drinking and partying, sure. And even then only if both parties knew what they were in for. But if it became a regular thing then emotions were bound to get involved and things would inevitably end up getting messy. Somebody always wound up hurt.

She valued her frienship with Maura, or at least the frienship that she had felt building with Maura, too much to screw things up with some fling.

She was still wary about entering into a relationship with a collegue. Especially one she had to work so closely with. A lot was at stake here, if things went sour between them. Not the least of which was their careers and their reputations.

But there was no denying the fact that there was something physical between them. Sleeping together, as Maura had suggested, had not lessened Jane's attraction to the other woman. From the way she was feeling in this moment, it seemed to have succeeded in strenghtening it.

Jane knew that she wouldn't be able to forget how being with Maura had made her feel. She wouldn't be able to look at her without remembering the way her lips tasted, how soft her skin was or how beautiful she looked in the throes of orgasm. And maybe this was just the afterglow speaking but she wanted to try and have a go at a relationship. A real relationship. They might be a slightly odd, mismatched pair but there was something about them that worked.

"Studies have shown that having a regular partner can-"

"That's probably true," Jane interrupted. "But that's not really my style. I was thinking more along the lines of...dating." She raised her gaze, cautiously meeting Maura's eyes, trying to gauge her reaction. "A relationship."

Maura's brow furrowed and she pursed her lips. Jane's heart sank and she tried to form the words to take it all back.

"I've never been very good at relationships," Maura admitted quietly.

Jane glanced back up at her, waiting.

"But, there's something about you Jane. I...I'd like to give it a try."

Jane took a moment to process Maura's words before a grin spread over her face.

Dating Maura Isles. It was bound to have its challenges but Jane was looking forward to them.


End file.
